Sunday, September 10, 2006

Don't Cry For Us Austin, TX

Ah Dallas. How I missed the smell of smog in the morning.

Well kids, it had to end sometime. Unfortunately, Chris Simms isn't around to bear the brunt of the blame.

All smack talk aside, congratulations to a strong Ohio State team who showed the nation that the term "number one" isn't as subjective as originally anticipated. I'd like to say that it was a well fought victory but that would diminish the dominance in which you displayed. I just hope that some of your fans can learn that class can also be extended OFF the field as well. As of this morning, 35 - 40 fires and 11 arrests have been reported in the city of Columbus. As stated yesterday, most of the Buckeye faithful I met were decent enough people. I'm glad that the incidents were isolated in Ohio. There are limits to how much you can mess with Texas.

So what went wrong?

There are so many fingers to point. Why were we trying to establish a passing game when Jamaal Charles and Selvin Young were tearing through their defense? Why can't Colt McCoy make a 5 yard pass without hitting his receiver's shoestrings? Where was the leadership and sense or urgency that should have formed in the 8 months prior to kickoff? Our boys marched on that field forgetting the intangible that carried them to a national title: heart.

But, it isn't the end of the world. Not even close. This loss served as a nice wakeup call to those that thought we were still in-Vince-able. (Let's not forget that he who was to be called VY had a few hiccups on his resume as a freshman too)

Teams have been in this position before. The 1996 Nebraska team lost to Texas in the Big 12 Championship game and went on to win another title in 1997. The following season, they went 9-4. The 2001 Oklahoma team posted a 11-2 record but failed to compete for the conference honors. Both of these programs were right back in the title hunt within a few seasons. With all the talent Texas has, there is no reason to believe that we cannot do the same.

LSU is a great example of what can happen if you put the loss in the back of your mind. In 2003, the eventual national champion lost a mid-season game to Florida who finished the poll at #16. In theory, Texas is in a better position than LSU was. We lost to the #1 team in the country in our second game of the season. The dominoes start to fall once conference play begins. We aren't in the driver's seat, but the mission remains the same. At worst, we are in a BCS game with another Big 12 skin on our wall if we take care of business. That certainly isn't a bad place to be.

When looking to the future you have to consider that:

#4 USC will play #2 ND#3 Auburn will play #6 LSU#3 Auburn will play #7 Florida

This means that at least three teams currently ranked ahead of us will not be at the end of the season if we run the table. That puts us only 3 spots from the goal.

So, I implore you to Come Early, Cheer Loud and Stay Late as the Horns march through the season. There should be no tears. Hats off to Mack Brown and the boys for making this a memorable run. We may have lost this round, but I didn't hear no bell.